Islamic Approach to the Treatment of the Fear of Death.

Although the question of death and the fear of it is one of the oldest questions man has dealt with, we have no discussions from ancient times about fear in an existential sense. The thematic approach to this phenomenon in Western philosophy and theology occurs in Hellenism and in the Christian religion, but it gains its full meaning only in the philosophies of existence. The famous Islamic philosopher and physician Ibn Sina, better known in the West as Avicenna (980-1037), wrote A Treatise on the Cure for the Fear of Death and the Treatment of Anxiety Caused by It more than nine centuries ago. Relying on Islamic teachings, Ibn Sina made a comprehensive analysis of this problem in the Treatise, giving precise instructions on how to deal with people who have mental impediments due to the fear of death, which in modern psychiatry are called anxiety and fear-related disorders. In this paper, a brief analysis of the Treatise is made in order to point out possible guidelines in the approach to the problem of fear of death, which in modern psychiatry, psychopathology and psychotherapy is obviously not given enough attention.